Have you Given Birth in France? Share Your Birth Story

When I was pregnant, I scoured the web desperately to find stories of woman who gave birth in France. The more I read, the more comforted I was about giving birth abroad. However, I could only find a handful of stories in English. After hearing from others who have given birth in France on my Facebook page, I was reminded about this and thought it would be neat to have a compilation of birth stories here.

Do you have a story to tell? If you have given birth in France, email your answers to the following questions and a photograph (optional) to me at stories@frenchmamma.com. If you do not provide a photograph, I may add a photo that relates to where you gave birth or illustrates something you said.

Under each question, I provided additional questions to help give you ideas about what to say.

1. Tell me a little about yourself.

Let me know your name, nationality and where in France you gave birth. You can also discuss what you do for a living, what brought you to France, and how long you have been living there. If you do not feel comfortable giving your full name, you can abbreviate it, for example, Carrieanne L. instead of Carrieanne Le bras.

2. Where did you choose to give birth in France?

Did you give birth in a hospital, birthing center, or at home? You do not have to provide the exact location if you would prefer to keep that private. But it would be interesting for our readers to know the name in case they are planning on giving birth in the area. Of course, if you gave birth at home, then just mention the fact you gave birth at home and not your address.

3. Why did you decide to give birth in this location?

What were your reasons for choosing this location?Was this your first choice?

4. What were you doing when you began labor?

Some people have funny stories about what they were doing when labor hit. What were you in middle of doing, where you prepared, and how did you know you were in labor?

5. Tell us about your experience giving birth in France?

From start to finish (or only the most memorable events), what is your birth story? Did anything unexpected happen or did everything go as planned?

6. What was your most memorable moment?

Anything particularly funny happen during giving birth, or a moment when you told yourself that you could never forget this?

7. Is there anything you would do differently if having another baby in France?

We all learn lessons from our experiences, what tips could you give other women preparing to give birth here?

8. How was your experience different than giving birth in your home country (if you are a foreigner)?

Did you notice any differences of giving birth in France than in your home country?